Paternal early experiences influence infant development through non-social mechanisms in Rhesus Macaques.

BackgroundEarly experiences influence the developing organism, with lifelong and potentially adaptive consequences. It has recently become clear that the effects of early experiences are not limited to the exposed generation, but can influence physiological and behavioral traits in the next generation. Mechanisms of transgenerational effects of parental early experiences on offspring development are often attributed to prenatal or postnatal parental influence, but recent data suggest that germ-line plasticity may also play a role in the transgenerational effects of early experiences. These non-genetic transgenerational effects are a potentially important developmental and evolutionary force, but the effects of parental experiences on behavior and physiology are not well understood in socially complex primates. In the non-human primate, the rhesus macaque, nursery rearing (NR) is an early life manipulation used for colony management purposes, and involves separating infants from parents early in life. We examined the effects of maternal and paternal early NR on infant rhesus macaque immunity, physiology, and behavior.ResultsWe theorized that differences in behavior or physiology in the absence of parent-offspring social contact would point to biological and perhaps germ-line, rather than social, mechanisms of effect. Thus, all subjects were themselves NR. Male and female infant rhesus macaques (N= 206) were separated from parents and social groups in the first four days of life to undergo NR. These infants differed only in their degree of NR ancestry - whether their dams or sires were themselves NR. At 3-4 months of age, infants underwent a standardized biobehavioral assessment. Factors describing immunity, plasma cortisol, and emotion regulation were generated from these data using factor analysis. Paternal, but not maternal, NR was associated with greater emotionality and higher plasma cortisol, compared with infants born to CONTROL reared fathers.ConclusionsThese data suggest that macaque biobehavioral makeup is strongly influenced by paternal experiences, and via non-social mechanisms

Rubella: The Past, Present, and Future

Rubella, a common virus disease, is a mild infection of children and young adults. Often a slight headache, fever, muscular pain, and swelling of the glands precede a light pink rash, cough, and nasal congestion. It is less contagious than ailments such as rubeola and chickenpox but yet still relatively easy to contract. Rubella appears in five to seven year cycles, usually in the spring. At these times, incidences of the disease can and do reach epidemic-sized proportions. Although infection with the disease confers lasting immunity, about one in every five people reaches adulthood without ever contracting it. Therefore, a large percentage (20%) of women of child-bearing age are not immune. This is where the danger of rubella is seen. There might be very little effect on a nine or ten year old child. But to an unborn child, the usually mild rubella virus can be vicious: babies born to mothers infected during the first month of pregnancy stand a 50 per cent chance of congenital heart defects, cataracts, deafness, or mental retardation

Early Social Stress Promotes Inflammation and Disease Risk in Rhesus Monkeys.

Early social stress has potent lifelong health effects. We examined the association of early stress in the attachment relationship (low maternal sensitivity, low MS), lower maternal social hierarchy rank, and greater frequency of group-level social conflict, with biomarkers of inflammatory stress response in plasma (IL-8, MCP-1 and CRP collected two hours after temporary separation from mothers and social groups) and risk for developing a common macaques disease outcome (infectious colitis) in 170 socially-housed rhesus monkeys. We controlled for gene-environment correlations by comparing cross-fostered subjects with infants reared by their biological mothers. Low MS predicted higher levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines and proteins at 3-4 months of age (F(3, 162) = 3.508, p = 0.002, partial eta2 = 0.061) and higher lifetime risk for developing colitis for up to twelve years of age (chi square = 5.919, p = 0.026). Lower maternal social rank (F (3, 162) = 3.789, p = 0.012, partial eta2 = 0.06) and higher rates of social conflict (F (3, 162) = 4.264, p = 0.006, partial eta2 = 0.074) each also predicted greater inflammation in infancy, but not lifetime colitis risk (both p > 0.05). The effects of low MS, lower social rank, and higher social conflict were significant in infants reared by biological mothers and cross-fostered infants, suggesting that our results did not arise from gene-environment correlations, but environmental stressors alone. We conclude that several types of early social stress confer risk for inflammation in infancy, but that stress in the mother-infant relationship may confer the longest-term risk for adverse health outcomes

Race, slavery, and liberalism in Lorenzo de Zavala’s "Viage a los Estados-Unidos del Norte de América"

In late 1829, Lorenzo de Zavala, an influential Mexican statesman, writer, and editor, fled Mexico and traveled to the United States as a political exile. In 1834 he published Viage a los Estados Unidos del Norte de América [Journey to the United States of North America], one of the earliest known meditations on U.S. democracy. While ostensibly written about the United States, Viage is directed at his fellow Mexicans and is intended as a tool for learning about democratic ideals and their potential realization in Mexico. In this article, I examine Zavala’s ideas about degeneracy and barbarism as presented through his discussion of slavery and slave-like imitation in both the U.S. and Mexico. Throughout his narrative, Zavala points to different types of slavery as part of each country’s past and present that continue to impede the realization of republican ideals and national democratic projects. I argue that Zavala uses a comparative mode, highlighting the similarities between Mexican and U.S. degeneracy. He thus presents both countries as young republics embroiled in similar fights for “civilization” as part of a hemispheric community moving away from barbarism and towards a broadly American concept of “progress.”A finales de 1829, Lorenzo de Zavala, hombre de estado además de escritor y editor influyente, huyó de México a los Estados Unidos como exiliado político. En 1834 publicó Viage a los Estados Unidos del Norte de América, una de las primeras reflexiones conocidas sobre la democracia estadounidense. Aparentemente escrito sobre los Estados Unidos, Viage se dirige a sus compatriotas mexicanos y tiene la intención de ser una herramienta para aprender sobre los ideales republicanos y su posible realización en México. En este artículo, examino las ideas de Zavala sobre la degeneración y la barbarie tal como las presenta en su discusión de la esclavitud y la imitación servil tanto en los Estados Unidos como en México. A lo largo de su narrativa, Zavala señala diferentes formas de esclavitud como parte del pasado y del presente de cada país que siguen impidiendo la realización de ideales republicanos y proyectos democráticos nacionales. Arguyo que Zavala emplea la comparación, resaltando las semejanzas entre la degeneración mexicana y estadounidense, para poder presentar a ambas naciones como repúblicas jóvenes sumidas en luchas parecidas en su camino hacia la “civilización”, como parte de una comunidad hemisférica que se aleja de la barbarie y avanza hacia un concepto ampliamente americano del “progreso”

Mitochondrial ion channels as therapeutic targets

AbstractThe study of mitochondrial ion channels changed our perception of these double-wrapped organelles from being just the power house of a cell to the guardian of a cell’s fate. Mitochondria communicate with the cell through these special channels. Most of the time, the message is encoded by ion flow across the mitochondrial outer and inner membranes. Potassium, sodium, calcium, protons, nucleotides, and proteins traverse the mitochondrial membranes in an exquisitely regulated manner to control a myriad of processes, from respiration and mitochondrial morphology to cell proliferation and cell death. This review is an update on both well established and putative mitochondrial channels regarding their composition, function, regulation, and therapeutic potential

Race, slavery, and liberalism in Lorenzo de Zavala’s "Viage a los Estados-Unidos del Norte de América"

In late 1829, Lorenzo de Zavala, an influential Mexican statesman, writer, and editor, fled Mexico and traveled to the United States as a political exile. In 1834 he published Viage a los Estados Unidos del Norte de América [Journey to the United States of North America], one of the earliest known meditations on U.S. democracy. While ostensibly written about the United States, Viage is directed at his fellow Mexicans and is intended as a tool for learning about democratic ideals and their potential realization in Mexico. In this article, I examine Zavala’s ideas about degeneracy and barbarism as presented through his discussion of slavery and slave-like imitation in both the U.S. and Mexico. Throughout his narrative, Zavala points to different types of slavery as part of each country’s past and present that continue to impede the realization of republican ideals and national democratic projects. I argue that Zavala uses a comparative mode, highlighting the similarities between Mexican and U.S. degeneracy. He thus presents both countries as young republics embroiled in similar fights for “civilization” as part of a hemispheric community moving away from barbarism and towards a broadly American concept of “progress.”A finales de 1829, Lorenzo de Zavala, hombre de estado además de escritor y editor influyente, huyó de México a los Estados Unidos como exiliado político. En 1834 publicó Viage a los Estados Unidos del Norte de América, una de las primeras reflexiones conocidas sobre la democracia estadounidense. Aparentemente escrito sobre los Estados Unidos, Viage se dirige a sus compatriotas mexicanos y tiene la intención de ser una herramienta para aprender sobre los ideales republicanos y su posible realización en México. En este artículo, examino las ideas de Zavala sobre la degeneración y la barbarie tal como las presenta en su discusión de la esclavitud y la imitación servil tanto en los Estados Unidos como en México. A lo largo de su narrativa, Zavala señala diferentes formas de esclavitud como parte del pasado y del presente de cada país que siguen impidiendo la realización de ideales republicanos y proyectos democráticos nacionales. Arguyo que Zavala emplea la comparación, resaltando las semejanzas entre la degeneración mexicana y estadounidense, para poder presentar a ambas naciones como repúblicas jóvenes sumidas en luchas parecidas en su camino hacia la “civilización”, como parte de una comunidad hemisférica que se aleja de la barbarie y avanza hacia un concepto ampliamente americano del “progreso”